Uber And Lyft Drivers Organize To Fight Exploitation

“Gig economy” corporations depend on a low-wage economy in which lots of people are looking for ways to get by. Their business model requires disposable people willing to take low-wage jobs with long hours and no benefits so they can pay the rent, doing things for people who need to save as much as they can, so they can pay the rent.

For example, if you’re driving for “ride share” companies like Uber or Lyft, those companies are making serious money. Meanwhile you’re probably working a lot of hours just to make rent. You drive for them, you obviously are an employee, but they say are a “contractor.” Contractors are basically employees who don’t get benefits, have to pay much more into Social Security, have to withhold their own taxes and pay them quarterly, can’t claim unemployment, don’t get Workers Compensation if injured on the job and many other disadvantages. There isn’t even a limit on the hours they work and they can’t get overtime.

The drivers (and other “contractors” around the country) say they are employees and deserve the rights and benefits of employees. Uber and other big corporations that exploit their workers as a business model claim their employees are “contractors” with no rights. Various courts, agencies, departments, etc are working to determine if they will be classified as employees or contractors.

Uber and Lyft Drivers Fighting To Unionize

Uber and Lyft drivers are fighting to do something about this and the best way to do something when you are being exploited on the job is to join a union so you are not fighting alone. In New York, for example, 14,000 Uber and Lyft drivers have signed up to say they want to join the local Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) branch.

Nearly 14,000 Uber and Lyft drivers in New York have signed up to join the local branch of the Amalgamated Transit Union, according to a union spokesperson. The group plans to rally at the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) headquarters next week to demand a formal vote on unionizing.

The 14,000 sign-ups exceed the 30 percent threshold that federal regulators say must trigger an official vote, the union says. The cards signed by drivers indicate that they seek ATU membership and authorize the union to act as their collective bargaining agent.

In a letter to the commissioner that was delivered on Tuesday, Local 1181 President Michael Cordiello asked the TLC to “schedule and conduct a free and fair election for the drivers of these corporations to determine whether they choose to be represented” by the union.

“We make this demand in conformance with the stated mission of the TLC,” he wrote, citing its status as “the agency responsible for licensing and regulating” the city’s taxis and car services.

In an interview, Cordiello added that Tuesday’s rally was only the first step in the union’s strategy.

“There are a lot of other ways we can accomplish this, such as legislation,” he said in a reference to the ordinance passed in December in Seattle that entitled Uber and Lyft drivers to union representation. “We are unfolding what we believe will be a new direction for labor and for the technology work force.”

Drivers for the ride-hailing service Uber turned out in the streets of Queens on Tuesday morning, demanding their right to unionize outside the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission in Long Island City.

“We demand living wage fares, no pool fares, protection from exploitation, union representation,” read one big green sign held up by one Uber driver, a middle-aged black man with a tan jacket and blue pork pie hat.

The ride-share workers — categorized as “independent contractors” rather than employees by tech companies like Uber and Lyft — had joined up with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, which represents city bus drivers. Copies of over 14,000 signed union cards sat in a fat bundle on the table in the center of the demonstration, 10,000 cards thicker since May.

The rally had the flavor of a protest,

It was an old-fashioned rally. The ride-share workers, joined by bus drivers, marched in front of the Taxi Commission barking out chants from a bullhorn. Cop cars flanked either side of the street as people who worked inside the Commission building slowed down to check out the protest.

A few passing Uber and Lyft drivers liked what they heard and waded into the demonstration to sign union cards.

“I support this,” said Jaydip Ray, 36, a skinny guy with a blue hoodie, moments after walking away from joining up, as another young man took his place. “We need benefits. Without benefits, we don’t have any future.”

The “gig economy” means that big corporations make billionaires, while their workers are called “contractors” who have no rights and don’t make squat. It’s one more way the system has been rigged.

About Dave Johnson

Dave has more than 20 years of technology industry experience. His earlier career included technical positions, including video game design at Atari and Imagic. He was a pioneer in design and development of productivity and educational applications of personal computers. More recently he helped co-found a company developing desktop systems to validate carbon trading in the US.